


My Lovely Land of Mist and Magic

by itsaquinnquinnsituation



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-25
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-20 23:28:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaquinnquinnsituation/pseuds/itsaquinnquinnsituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Louis, I don’t know what you've discovered in Scotland, if anything at all… But what I would have liked to know is this: why, if you do have an understanding of the difference between “having things” and “things being there”, you act as though it is nothing more than a choice of words?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is pure fiction. I apologize if I offended anyone.
> 
> The real people or the fictional characters that I based off the real people to do not belong to me.
> 
> This is my universe and exactly how I see it. Writing should be enjoyed, not judged.
> 
> My description of Shetland islands or life on the fictional island of Algus is not meant to be accurate in any way. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. Written in third person objective point of view and will, hopefully, be the last one of my semi-connected works.

“No… haha… one second” – Louis shoved the last of his clothes into his red sportsbag, - “yeah, I don’t know what they’ll say. They’re downstairs wasting their lives playing cards. Huh? Uh-huh. The cute one is there too. They’re all yapping and laughing and, honestly, even if I did have something I could or wanted to do, I wouldn’t be able to, ‘cause they are fucking loud and distracting…. No, and it sucks ‘cause like - I can’t understand shit and I wonder if they’re like… uh huh…” – Louis closed the laptop and placed it into its sleeve. – “Yeah, and I mean – whatever, but I guess like this old dude’s house is their only entertainment on this fucking island. Like I told you, they don’t even have a convenience store. Nothing. I mean, no street names, fucking nothing at all! A total ditch. I guess they bring booze from the mainland or wherever and collect in his living room and play cards. A couple are just sitting in the corner, using his wifi” – Louis proceeded to look around the room and pat his pockets, - “Huh? Yeah I know. Well, the phone only picks up, like – here – but there’s definitely no service out by the water… Yup… I’m so done with this shit. And I mean – Rodney is a lucky bastard. He’s done all his shooting and fucked off to the mainland this morning. And it’s not like – Las Vegas or anything but they do have a few taverns there at least… Yeah… I mean, I don’t understand why the fuck we’re on this island in the first place! You know, like we shot that whole Belgian episode without ever leaving Amsterdam and nobody even noticed! But… yeah… no, I don’t blame him either – you literally cannot see past your nose in the fucking mist. Like, what’s there to shoot?... Uh huh… yeah, I know, and they won’t talk to you either, like they all look at me like I’m a fucking animal in the zoo. Pathetic dimwits. Honestly, I’d rather die than live in this fucking dump with these cavemen.”

Louis gave the room one last look before swinging the bag onto his shoulder, turning off the lights and closing the door. The door did not close the entire way, however, because it did not fit well into its door frame. Louis proceeded towards the staircase leading down.

“Yup. Listen, Zayn, I’m about to… Yeah… I don’t know, I’ll come up with something… not like they’ll know any better. Ha! Yeah… yeah… I’ll call when we get there… Rodney and I actually *do* need to talk about something in the Italian footage, but I’ll call…. Yup… Oh okay, well, then I’ll call in the morning…. Yeah… I know, right? Might actually get to have breakfast in peace and quiet for a change. Ha. Yeah, if you don’t count Rodney’s idiotic sense of humour. Ok… yup, okay, bye.” – he snapped his mobile shut, slipped it into his jacket pocket and went down the creaky stairway into the dimly lit living room.

At this time it was all quiet. Five men sat around a thick round wooden table with a board game spread on top of it. A burly old man with sparse snow-white hair and bushy eyebrows was resting his face on his hand and staring intently onto the layout. Two narrow-faced, dark-haired men were conversing slowly in half-whisper. A younger lad was staring at the old man with big bright eyes and a silly smile glued on his face. The last man was reading a book, tracing the lines of text with his finger. He lifted his eyes to Louis just then and prodded the burly old guy in the side. The latter grunted but did not move.

“Padraig!” – the man croaked out then, nudging his game-playing buddy again, who wrinkled his brows before looking at Louis, and the younger lad turned his head, stare resting on newcomer’s face. When his glance connected immediately with that of Louis, he blinked and looked away. The others stopped their conversation abruptly and turned around to face the living room guest.

“Uhm… Mr McCulloch..” – Louis started then, - “… I realize this is a bit last minute but… could I perhaps find a way to get into town now rather than tomorrow morning?” – Louis looked away briefly and returned his gaze back to Padraig, - “My cameraman accidentally took with him some footage that I was hoping to work on tonight and I…”

“Hgungh…it’s night-time” – the old man interrupted hoarsely, - “and tomorrow is Monday, so you will take the boat that everyone takes into town in the morning.”

“Well, it’s not that… it’s only seven o’clock in the evening… and I just… I’d rather not lose time… I really could have used the time to…”

“…nobody called me about the boat” – the old man interrupted again. The other three were exchanging looks and the younger one was looking from Padraig to Louis, - “when we made arrangements, we…”

“I know, I know” – Louis waived his hands and stepped back, - “I do apologize this is unexpected, but I… we are on a tight schedule… we have a lot of work. Tomorrow we are to leave for Wales and I could really use the night to edit the segment we shot here, so I…”

“….but who..” – the burly man started again but shut his mouth abruptly when the younger lad suddenly leaned over and stretched his arm out over the book-reading man, tapping Padraig in the shoulder. The old man’s blue, washed out eyes, almost entirely obscured by his enormous white eyebrows, moved in the young lad’s direction. The lad spoke quickly and quietly.

“Ungh” – Padraig grunted loudly, furrowing his brows and leaning away. The lad continued, gesturing. Padraig interrupted him with a short phrase. The book-reading man exchanged a look with the younger lad, then turned to Padraig and addressed him, shrugging his shoulders. Padraig looked from the man back to the younger lad, who also shrugged his shoulders in turn. Padraig grunted again and returned his gaze back to Louis.

“Well” – he said and briefly looked to his board-game buddies. – “we wouldn’t normally do this… but Harry here is willing to take you. Only…” – he looked at the young lad who nodded quickly, - “you will have to take Ruaidhri’s old row boat, because I’m not letting you….uh…”- he leaned backward and examined the thick grey fog through a curtainless window but as he opened his mouth again, the younger lad who was observing him intently the whole time, spoke quickly, and the book-reading man nodded, chiming in. Padraig then leaned back to the table and addressed the younger lad sternly and pointedly. The lad’s face relaxed into a gentle smile and he got up off his chair swiftly, patting the old man on the shoulder.

“Harry will take in you in a minute” – the old man informed Louis without a smile, - “well go get ready then.”

Louis responded:

“I’m ready.”


	2. Chapter 2

Louis walked five feet behind his guide, steps uneven on the rocky beach. The lad in front of him was tall and lean, slender legs poking awkwardly from the oversized dark-green coat. The wind played with his curly locks and his unzipped coat was puffing out behind him like a superhero’s cape. Nothing was moving on the beach, besides the two of them, and the gently crashing waves.

The boat rested overturned by a big rock and the guide fetched and prepped it without a word. He allowed Louis to get in, then pushed it off-shore, looking down as he walked behind it. He hopped in next and the oars made a little splash as they entered the water. After a hundred feet and a few minutes spent in silence interrupted only by the rhythmic splashes, Louis closed his eyes...

“You lied.”

Louis’ eyes flew open instantly and fixed on the oarsman. The lad looked at him unblinking as he continued to row.

“Excuse me… what?” – Louis choked out, frowning.

“You lied” – the lad repeated simply and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes a little, - “you don’t need to get to the mainland because of the footage. Your colleague was using a rather simple digital camera, I saw him film. I highly doubt he would have been unable to send you the file, seeing how our internet is working just fine.”

“I”- Louis opened and closed his mouth, - “the… The thing is, the file is quite big, downloading would have taken forever...”

“Right” – the oarsman smiled and nodded, - “Well, I did not mean to invite a pointless argument. I was just stating the fact.”

Louis stared at him, mouth slightly agape and the lad held his stare, lips stretched in a catty smile.

“Ough… I..” – Louis shook his head and wiped a hand over his face, - “shit.. listen… um… about… if you… I mean… I didn’t realize… I… um…”

“That I speak English?” – the lad finished, - “yes, I do. We all do, seeing how it is the official language of our country.”

“I… just wasn’t sure..”

“I’ve only met two Scotsmen in my entire life who did not understand any English. Both were well over seventy and quite set in their ways.”

“Right. Well, I…” – Louis continued to look at the lad and the lad continued to smile.

“It’s alright” – the lad winked, - “I just wanted a nice evening stroll. The sea is so lovely by night.”

“H-Harry, right?” – Louis choked out, eyes glued to the lad, - “I… You… Wait” – he blinked, - “you don’t even sound Scottish.”

“Well, maybe I’m not” – Harry grinned, eyes narrowed, - “Does every lad who lives on Shetland islands and speaks fluent gaelic have to be Scottish? Another revelation for you! Can’t say I didn’t help you find material for your discovery programme.”

“Ugh… that’s enough!” – Louis straightened his back and leaned forward, glaring, - “I don’t know what the hell you have in mind, but if you’re going to fuck with me, then…”

“Then what? You’re going to ring your boss? Tell him he’s about to lose the precious pretty face of the Globe Trotter?”

“You… if something happens to me…”

Harry laughed, throwing his head back and discontinuing the rowing strokes for a moment:

“Nobody would know. We could kill you wickerman-style and Bob’s your uncle! What did you say we were? A bunch of in-bred communists?”

Louis exhaled:

“Okay, look. I get it. I get it now. I didn’t realize you could understand me, I didn’t mean for you to hear those things about your… island…”

“I don’t live on this island” – Harry cut him off, - “I live on the neighbouring one.”

“Well, then, your… your…”

“Community? Friends and neighbours? Colleagues? Fellow human beings? Okay, yeah, I’ll take that. But you said those things just as I was bringing you and your buddy *to* the island. Meaning, you haven’t even seen it. Haven’t talked to anyone of us.”

“That was my plan…”

“Of course. It’s your job, after all. It’s hard to find anyone these days who hasn’t heard of the Globe Trotter. I used to use your documentaries as part of my classroom materials. Padraig has people over every Friday night and they stop whatever they’re doing to stare at your pretty face promptly at seven-thirty.”

“I…”

“Believe it or not, *I still* watch them. I don’t encourage the kids to take the information you provide too seriously, but it’s nice to look at different places in the world, especially for the ones, whose families cannot afford travel. Some lovely historic buildings are still some lovely historic buildings no matter where; and Belgium and Holland are practically the same country anyway, aren’t they?”

“I… I didn’t… “

“Realize anyone would notice? Well, it partially worked because, clearly, your producing director hasn’t.”

“It’s…”

“No, I mean, I would want an extra day in Amsterdam too! After all, they do have some very *interesting* laws…”

“Stop it!” – Louis shrieked leaning forward, - “What gives you the right…?”

“The fact that you, in a way, are the face of our country. Have I not heard it correctly that they are planning to dub the Globe Trotter, oh, including all of the past two years’ footage, into French? I’m sure the French-speaking Belgians would be quite impressed with the representation of their country…”

“You’ve no idea! God damnit, yes, we did that! Fuck, yes, me, and Rodney, and Stewart, and we… just… we were exhausted on the European leg, literally, all we wanted is an afternoon to ourselves, so we fucked it up, you caught me out, now could you stop it, please?”

“You came here to discover. Right? So as I see it, you’re discovering a lot. Not everyone on Shetland islands is Scottish, not all Scotsmen are stupid…. “

“Stop it” – Louis seethed, - “Stop it! You have no right to attack me! If you don’t like my show, don’t watch it. Your whole fucking island can just enforce an official ban on Globe Trotter! Conduct inquisitions and lynch anyone who does! I bet you’d be good at that!”

Harry stopped rowing, threw his head back and laughed loudly:

“There. The showman I know is coming back! I thought I’d scared you speechless. Well, the fact is, your show is watched by far more people than I could ever fathom to warn…”

“And what are you? Some kind of a Jesus Christ who has come to save the whole world?”

“…or maybe just you.”

Louis blinked. A loud splash ensued.


	3. Chapter 3

“W-what was that?” – Louis leaned over to look at the water. It was dark and perturbed by uneven ripples.

Harry leaned over as well and raised his eye brows:

“My oar. Well, I guess, it slipped out of my hand. You distracted me and I lost my grip.”

Louis’ eyes protruded from their sockets:

“You’re going to blame me for this?”

“A better question is, what are we going to do now?”

“It’s... it’s…” – Louis leaned overboard again and attempted to touch the water, - “it’s supposed to float up, no?”

“Well, do you see it floating?”

“Fuck!” – Louis turned to his guide, eyes big, - “Harry, this is serious, what the hell are we going to do?”

“Nothing” – Harry shrugged, - “I couldn’t navigate with one oar, it would be very hard and would probably hurt my back… The first boat will set off at 6 in the morning, though, and they will be sure to find us…”

“To… to find us?” – Louis shrieked, - “Are we supposed to sit here all night??”

“You could swim ashore, Louis, if you want. Would make for a good story for your Scotland episode. Oh – and it would be true for a change. By the way, can you even see the shoreline?”

“Damnit!” – Louis hissed and made a feeble attempt to get up. The boat rocked, - “you’re a fucking idiot! And an arsehole!”

“Or you can try rowing yourself” – Harry smiled, - “would you like this oar?”

“Well, where are we? How close to the other shore?”

“About three-quarters of the way in.”

“So… so… well, it shouldn’t take long then… even with one oar…”

“Right. Except for when I row with both arms, I know that I stay relatively straight, because I’ve been doing this for years. Now, with one oar, I could not be so sure…”

“Don’t you have a compass?”

“I have never needed one. Plus, we rarely row by night-time.”

“What’s the goddamn difference? Not like this place has any sun anyway!”

“Ugh, touché!” – Harry put his hand over his heart theatrically and rolled his eyes, - “We live where the sun don’t shine!”

Louis looked at him, blinked, and suddenly burst into laughter.

“I don’t understand” – he said after a while, - “You… you realize… look, what are you, you said…”

“A school teacher” – Harry nodded and the muscles around his eyes relaxed.

“Right… So, you must be… you’re well-educated, obviously.”

“Went to Oxford.”

“What?” – Louis leaned forward, - “You went to Oxford? To Oxford?? Even I did not go to Oxford!”

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t understand what the hell you are doing here?” – Louis continued.

“Teaching natural sciences, geography... And English language and literature. Not because I like it precisely, but we have no one else to do it.”

“So… damn, I bet you know more about the world than I do.”

“I have never been outside of Great Britain.”

“If you were the Globe Trotter, you would…”

“But they wouldn’t have hired me to be the Globe Trotter… I just don’t have your face.” – Harry bit his lip.

Louis looked down and smiled. Harry mirrored him. They remained silent.

“Are you sure there’s no other way we can get help?” – Louis wondered after a while.

“You mean, like scream? Do you really think they could hear you?”

“Sound travels without any walls.”

“Try it.”

Louis looked at him, but Harry just nodded. So Louis let out a yelp. And Harry dissolved in giggles.

“That’s a roar? I’ll show you a roar!”

Harry stood up and the boat rocked. He threw his arms wide and the wind ruffled his open coat and his hair. He filled his chest with air and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Jesus…” – Louis covered his ears with his hands.

“I bet you’ve never done this” – Harry looked down at him, - “not in your London flat, not with your tight schedule, not when everyone and their mother knows your face like the back of their hand”, - he stretched his arm out to Louis, - “Come here.”

“W-what?” – Louis hesitated, eyeing his hand.

“Give me your hand” – Harry nodded at him. Louis did touch it lightly and Harry grabbed it and pulled him up to his feet and held him steadily as the boat rocked.

“Now” – Harry turned him around and grabbed him by the shoulders, - “Just let it out. Scream.”

“Why?” - Louis tried to turn to him, but Harry squeezed his shoulders. Then Louis threw his head back and screamed. He screamed until he was out of breath and his hands came up to clutch at his chest, and his head, thrown back, landed on Harry’s shoulder. Harry’s hands traveled down and held him across the waist in the front as Louis caught his breath. Even then, Harry made no motion to sit down and Louis’ hands came to mould onto Harry’s. Harry’s breath ghosting over his ear, Louis smiled:

“That was… you’re right… I’ve never done this before…”

“How does it feel?”

“It’s…” – Harry’s hands adjusted to envelop him tighter, - “Just… I don’t know… like… in this moment… somehow… everything…. All these things that I see and do every day… all *that* is so far away… and I don’t care… and *this*… everything... belongs to me… or both of us…”

“And what is it that belongs to you? What do you see?”

“Everything” – Louis laughs a little, - “Or nothing actually. All I can see is the mist. But I feel like I have everything. Like I see everything… and am part of it all.”

“Well, that is exactly how it is here. This is what it is. My lovely land of mist and magic.”


	4. Chapter 4

“… and if there’s an emergency?”

“We do keep at least one motorboat on all islands at all times. And trust me, emergencies have happened.” 

“It’s… I understand that it’s possible, I just… especially when you’re younger… there’s nothing to do…”

Harry squinted, looking out onto the water.

“We’re sitting in the boat, Louis. There’s nothing to do. Do you feel bored?”

“No, it’s just right now that...”

“We’re talking. More than you’ve talked with anyone over the past four days you spent lodging at Padraig’s. Maybe if you tried talking to him, you wouldn’t have wanted to leave so urgently tonight.”

“I was working on the discovery episode, I didn’t have a chance.”

“Right. So what have you discovered so far?”

Louis looked at him, but Harry’s gaze was turned down, wind playing gingerly in his curls. He lifted his eyes then, face intent, eyes dark and deep like the night that was enveloping them. 

“I want to know. I don’t care what the world thinks about Scotland, I don’t care what your producing director would want to tell the world about Scotland, I want to know what *you* have discovered so far?”

“I…” – Louis smiled gently, - “It’s definitely got its charms. I guess there’s something in having a tight community. I mean, for those who want to live here, I’m sure they enjoy it a lot…”

“And you wouldn’t?”

“Well, I couldn’t, first and foremost, not with working on the Globe Trotter…”

“Which is the pinnacle of your achievements?”

“Harry!” – Louis looked square into his unblinking eyes, - “I mean I got to see the world, meet interesting people, I mean just lots of…”

“Yeah?” – Harry interrupted, - “And who is the most interesting person that you got to know?”

“Ugh” – Louis looked to the side, - “Well, there was this one.. He… I guess he build churches in Nicaragua. It was interesting, I would have helped but we were just passing through…”

“Passing though?”

“Yeah. Well, it was last year, right when we did the Latin American series…”

“Right. So what was his name?”

“I don’t remember. That was awhile ago… I mean…”

“Right. And you want me to tell you who is the most interesting person I know?” – Harry asked pointedly and proceeded immediately - “Padraig. He has never been outside of Scotland. He hasn’t been off Shetland islands for the past twenty years. But he has built the community of Algus and the neighbouring islands. He has worked out the way we can share boats, shopping, entertainment, and have everything that the rest of the world does. I know almost all there’s to know about Padraig’s life. I know how he lost his wife and his daughter. I know how he struggled after he injured himself building his own house. And that he is the most admirable person I *know*.”

“Well, there’s an appeal to living in a small-town setting...”

“Is this what you think I’ve been talking about? This whole time?”

“Harry, don’t…”

“No, Louis, I will. You’re trying to tell people stories about the world, but you don’t have the faintest clue about how it works.”

“Stop it!”

“You live amongst people, you don’t live *with* people. You take snapshots of the buildings but you have no idea why someone had built it. You run from one place to the next, one person to the next, trying to figure out what is bigger and better, not realizing that if only you stayed long enough to really invest yourself in getting to know it, it might have been the one thing that you wouldn’t want to give up. You have no time to enjoy yourself, you are too busy engaging in things that you think you should be doing, but you neither like nor care about them.”

“Okay” – Louis hissed and leaned back, - “And am I then to assume that you know life well enough and I should take advice from you? You could be anywhere you want with your Oxford education, but you choose to waste your life in the company of the same fifteen people and a class of rebellious teenagers! If you are trying to be a martyr, Harry, you are clearly doing it wrong, because you’re benefiting neither them nor yourself! And look, we both know why you really decided to take me off the island tonight. No matter how much you love those old frogs, you’re a young gay man, and, please, let’s not argue about that, I know you’re probably not out, hell, I wouldn’t be around these people either! I felt like they’d stone me had Padraig not been paid big money to host me! Harry, I don’t know how you can be so naïve, but this is not how you could just… have me! I mean whatever, we’re here now, but…”

“Right.” – Harry shook his head with a downturned smile – “You have clearly gotten to know both me and my neighbours very well. Well, you came here to discover *life on a Scottish island*. And that is exactly the task I was trying to help you with. I knew that you’d present to the world the *Scottish island*. But I was hoping it’d be *life* that you could actually get to know.” – With that he bent over and began digging at the bottom of the boat amongst the ropes and old fishing gear. He extracted an oar, slipped it through the hook and gingerly lowered it onto the water. Louis watched him, unblinking. His mouth remained agape even as Harry began rowing.

They remained in silence when Louis, hitching up his red sports bag, climbed up onto the wooden dock. Harry stood in the boat, watching him. Louis turned to him and they looked at each other, faces blank. Harry was the one to break the invisible wall:

“Louis, I don’t know what you've discovered in Scotland, if anything at all… But what I would have liked to know is this: why, if you do have an understanding of the difference between “having things” and “things being there”, you act as though it's nothing more than a choice of words?”

Louis continued to look at him as Harry unhooked the oar from the railing on the dock, pushed off and began rowing. Soon, he disappeared in the mist. 

Louis was still standing at the edge of the dock when the faint sound of a car honk traveled all the way to the water and two men, steps sounding dull on the thick wood, ran up to him.

"Louis!” – one of them slapped him on the shoulder, - “what the fuck, man, come on, hurry up! Damn, you look cold! Come on, come on, Sam’s tavern is still open” – the man winked at him, - “come on, I’ll buy you a drink. You can have anything you want, let’s go!”

Louis looked at him, motionless and unblinking.


	5. Epilogue

Louis walked down the empty hallway with scuffed up, peeling white walls and stopped for just a few seconds before a rough wooden door, which stood slightly ajar and allowed snippets of a quiet lecture to innocently seep out. He inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly and unevenly. Without bothering to knock, Louis pulled the door all the way open and stepped half-way in.

The door creaked upon being disturbed, and several teenagers' heads turned in his direction. All eyes upon him, Louis sidestepped, almost tripping, and managed in a slightly trembling voice:

"Hello."

A few moments passed. A couple heads turned back to the teacher, who, closing his gaping mouth and frowning, mumbled: "Give me one second", before proceeding up the aisle and ushering Louis back into the hallway.

They stood in silence.

"What are you doing here?" - the teacher asked finally and stepped back, cocking his head, - "Back for more discovery?"

"No" - Louis replied, not looking him in the eye, - "You may not know it yet, but I have quit my job. It might... you might see it on the next episode..."

"I stopped watching them" - the young man cut him off.

"Listen, Harry" - Louis brought his eyes up just for a moment and winced, - "I didn't come here to offer you a ride into Hawaiian sunset, and well...why would I, you'd never agree to something like that, but I was hoping for just one little favour... that at least I could stay at yours for a couple of days while I find a more permanent living arrangement and some kind of employment... because I don't... I don't know too many people here... I mean, I... could ask old man Padraig but with all that has happe..."

"So you've ditched the life of the high and mighty, the flashes and the spotlight to come find a poor school teacher on a remote Scottish island, and you think, naturally, that he would collapse at your feet and offer you a key to his humble abode?" - Harry grunted and his face stretched in a catty smirk, - "well, that is not going to happen..."

Louis did not respond, looking down, deflated. His red sports bag hung heavily on his shoulder.

"... because I don't even own a key" - Louis brought his eyes in a flash to Harry's, which were now more black than green with mischief, - "Nobody locks their doors around here..."

Louis was gaping now, small smile attempting to stretch his thin bitten lips.

"... but I could definitely tell you though, how to find my house. If you just go north from the school, it's the one with the red roof and a little bench on the front porch. I also have a large ceramic bunny just by the... "

"Aaaa..." - Louis drawled out unable to look away, - "I will... I'll just... wait for you... outside... by the entrance."

"As you wish" - Harry shrugged and smirked, - "Soonest I can wrap up is about an hour. Well, if you need anything..."

"Talk to people" - Louis interrupted with a tiny sheepish smile, - "Yeah, I know. I even have this now, should I need it" - and he extracted a little book from his jacket pocket. 

"’Scottish Gaelic conversational phrase book’… Impressive" - Harry nodded, corners of mouth pulled down in a cartoonishly exaggerated expression, - "well, I have to get back to my class. Feel free to walk about and explore the area. There's a lot that you'll have to learn. Whenever you're ready, just come back here, I have a mountain of papers to grade" - he turned on his heels to return to the classroom.

"Harry" - Louis blurted and Harry stopped and looked at him expectantly.

"I... You ditched your oar that night... and I guess... you may have gotten some grief for it.... from the owner... but what I mean to ask is... was it worth it?"

Harry blinked and smirked and proceeded to give Louis an unabashed once-over but by the time his green eyes met Louis' blue, no trace of amusement was left on his face:

"Well, I don't know this yet. I guess we shall have to see."

With that, he disappeared through the door as Louis hitched up his sports bag and started down the hall. Immediately though, he heard muffled cat calls and giggling from Harry's classroom.

"Ouaw! Nice one, Mr S!" - a boy's voice cheered.

"I think I've seen him somewhere and he is quite cute" - a girl's voice agreed - "Do you fancy him?"

"Go get 'im!" - another teenage boy egged on. 

"Later, Ian" - Harry's voice, laced with amusement, responded, - "Oh, maybe you and James would like to drop by and observe? Could give you two some new ideas, you know..." 

The classroom exploded with laughter and Louis' thin lips stretched in a bashful smile as he shook his head. He walked briskly to exit the school and just at the door turned around and looked over the empty lobby. It was old-fashioned and deteriorating, but it was neat, cozy and quiet. And outside, it was grey, misty and tranquil. Things were going just like they always were. There was nothing special about this day. It was an ordinary day in Scotland.


End file.
